With Illumination and Nintendo’s highly anticipated The Super Mario Bros. opening in theaters tomorrow, a slew of reviews have now arrived, and unfortunately, they’re extremely mixed. Critics seem to be in love with the sublime animation and visual splendor of The Super Mario Bros., but are not entirely impressed with the film’s script and juvenile jokes. However, it should be noted that of all the actors who voiced a Super Mario movie, Jack Black’s portrayal of Bowser seems to have received the most approval from film critics. Overall, the movie Super Mario Bros. has a rating 48% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 54 critic reviews (9pm UK time) and 48 Metascore on Metacritic based on 33 critical reviews.
“This comes from Illumination, a studio that has never earned the critical acclaim of rivals like Pixar or Sony, but through their Minions and Sing franchises, they’ve certainly figured out how to make millions of dollars for the family. You feel the song being sung halfway through the semester in endless danger, bright colors, mostly unfunny gags, empty sentiments (“Nothing can hurt us as long as we’re together!”). The studio brings experience and talent; the standard of animation, clearly presented and richly artistically directed, is undoubtedly high. No doubt it will win many gold coins at the box office. But Bob Hoskins’ version is far more imaginative.” Empire magazine 2/5
“Illumination’s Super Mario Bros.” fails to hit the top of the wicket. It succumbs to the lazy feature-length animated tropes that its studio is known for, but gains mushroom power through its breathtaking animation and imaginatively directed action sequences.” Randy Reviews 2.5/5
“The movie Super Mario Bros. is a fireball of animated fantasy. The adventure of Mario, Luigi and Peach delights with its infectious energy and clever implementations of video game callbacks, and the superb animation portrays the Mushroom Kingdom as an Oz-like wonderland that begs to be explored in the inevitable sequels that follow. The assembled voice cast lends a unique take on each of their characters, but undercooked emotional arcs don’t get the same attention as aesthetics, not helped by a paint-by-numbers plot that confusingly keeps Mario and Luigi apart for half the film. Illumination and Nintendo set out to deliver a Mario movie that anyone could enjoy and anyone who knew the games at all could get lost in – they’ve undoubtedly succeeded on both fronts.” IGN 8/10
“At first, there are some humorous and ingenious sequences of 2D obstacles that move to the right and connect the gameplay, as if by accident, but after the brothers leave planet Earth, the game dimension has to be repeatedly, cumbersomely and boringly connected to the story. yourself. And unlike the brilliant Lego movies, there’s a fierce insistence on not being tongue-in-cheek, funny or self-referential about any of this – strange, since screenwriter Matthew Fogel worked on The Lego Movie 2. The only exception, perhaps, is when Bowser is seen pensively playing power ballads on his piano. Even Super Mario superfans might prefer the game.” Guardian 2/5
“It’s just a shame that a slim 92-minute running time means we don’t have much time to linger in this vivid setting. The story races through locations, character introductions, and story threads so quickly that by the time the final act approaches, you can’t help but wish directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic had hit the brakes a little. There are casualties along the way – Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong doesn’t get much attention – but it’s Mario and Luigi’s relationship that really suffers. And given how much the later plot depends on it, this lack of development means that one particular payoff doesn’t hit the necessary emotional beats. Horvath and Jelenic have done much to rewrite Mario’s legacy on screen, but TSMBM ultimately falls short of the sublime genius of Shigeru Miyamoto’s beloved games. While all signs point to a sequel, the characters still have a lot of Rainbow Road left to explore.” 3/5 Total Film magazine
